Perhaps it was her mother’s curse
in 1917 when she married a man of whom her family disapproved. It may have been
her criminal mind blossoming into murder. Or a
mother’s instinct to protect a beloved son. Something made Leonarda Cianciulli,
first known Italian female serial killer, chop up bodies to make soap and
teacakes gifts for family and neighbors.
Leonarda Cianciulli (b. April 18,
1894) hailed from Montella, Avellino, Italy. Leonarda’s father, Mariano
Cianciulli had raped her mother, Emilia di Nolfi. To save face, Emilia had to
marry her rapist once she discovered she was pregnant. Emilia was emotionally
abusive to her child, even after a second marriage. The family stayed impoverished.
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| Leonarda had already made two suicide attempts before she married. |
Leonarda had already made two
suicide attempts before she married the older Raffaele Pansardi in 1917. He was
not one of the wealthy men her parents had selected for her; Leonarda would later
explain her mother cursed her for her disobedience. Four years later, the
couple moved to southern Italy. Both found work, but Leonarda went to prison
for fraud, her first crime. Upon release, they moved twice more, finally
settling into the town of Correggio, the province of Reggio Emilia. Here, Leonarda
opened a popular soap shop. She also told fortunes and “hypnotized” clients,
claiming to have special powers to help make their dreams come true.
Leonarda was well-liked and
respected in Reggio Emilia. Sometimes an awful smell emulated from her kitchen,
but it never lasted long. Her neighbors knew she was quite superstitious, but
they told one another that this was due to her tragic history. Leonarda had
been pregnant seventeen times, with three miscarriages and ten babies dying of
various illnesses. Thus she was overprotective of their four surviving
children. So in 1938, when her oldest, Giuseppe Pansardi, announced the army
was drafting him, Leonarda was aghast. World War II was looming ahead, and she
would protect him at any cost. She would lose no more children, least of all
her favorite! And in between the tears, the superstitious Leonarda Cianciulli
determined human sacrifice would ensure Giuseppe’s safety. Give God a body so He would not take Giuseppe.
Faustina Setti, at 73, was a poor,
lonely, unmarried woman, desperate for a husband. She often came to Leonarda
for help in finding that husband. “I have someone for you in Pola (now Croatia),”
Leonarda told Faustina, “but you must tell no one.” Leonardo took the farce a step further by writing Faustina letters from the "suitor." To keep the secret,
Faustina was to pen upbeat postcards and letters and mail them to her family from Pola upon her arrival. An excited
Faustina packed her bags, dyed her grey hair, and then visited Leonarda for the
last time for final preparations. Leonarda offered her neighbor wine (some
accounts say coffee) to celebrate her new life. When Faustina fell drugged,
Leonarda hit her with an ax and hid her body. Leonarda Cianciulli chopped
Faustina Setti into nine parts, using a basin to collect the blood. At her 1946 murder trial, Leonarda explained:
I waited until it had coagulated,
dried it in the oven, ground it, and mixed it with flour, sugar, chocolate,
milk, and eggs, as well as a bit of margarine, kneading all the ingredients
together. I made lots of crunchy tea cakes and served them to the ladies who
came to visit, though Giuseppe and I also ate them.
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|
Leonarda Cianciulli's victims
She also used some of the blood to
make chocolate and shared this with neighbors and the neighborhood children. As for
the body parts: “I threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic
soda, which I had bought to make soap, and stirred the mixture until the pieces
dissolved in a thick, dark mush that I poured into several buckets and emptied
in a nearby septic tank.”
But one human sacrifice was not
enough to ensure Giuseppe’s safety, so Leonarda focused on another lonely
neighbor, schoolteacher Francesca Soavi. Francesca was 55. Leonarda repeated the
exact pattern, but this time she told Francesca that Leonarda had found her a
fantastic job at a girl’s school in northern Italy. Francesca’s last visit with
Leonarda Cianciulli was on September 5, 1940, and this is when Leonarda drugged
her with tainted wine, used the ax, chopped up the body, and made more
teacakes.
She also used some of the blood to make chocolate to share with neighbors and the neighborhood children.
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Leonarda may have financially
benefitted from the murders. Some sources noted she collected around 30,000
lire total (about $4,900 in today’s U.S. currency).
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| Cook pot and other implements used in Leonarda's kitchen to cook human flesh |
Opera singer Virginia
Cacioppo’s good friend Leonarda promised Virginia work as a secretary for an
impresario in Florence. Virginia could not believe her luck; at 53, here was a
chance to turn her memories of glory and life of poverty! She was indebted to
Leonarda. But Virginia could not keep her mouth closed, so several friends
understood Virginia was about to embark on an adventure, courtesy kindly
Leonarda Cianciulli, the soap maker and medium extraordinaire. On September
30, 1940, she went to see Leonarda for one last chance to express her
gratitude, and they toasted with wine. At her 1946 trial, Leonarda explained chubby Virginia’s fate:
She ended up in the pot like the
other two...her flesh was fat and white, when it had melted, I added a bottle
of cologne, and after a long time on the boil, I was able to make some most
acceptable creamy soap. I gave bars to neighbors and acquaintances. The cakes,
too, were better: that woman was really sweet.
This time, Leonarda received about
50,000 lire, jewelry, and public bonds. She raided Virginia’s house of
valuables, and then sold or gifted the victims’ clothing, shoes, and jewelry.
And she gave her neighbors gifts of the handmade soap.
But this time, the victim had a
family member who did care about what happened to her. Virginia Cacioppo’s
sister (possibly a sister-in-law) reported her missing, telling police she last
saw Virginia walking into Leonarda’s home. The police spoke with Leonarda. When
she declared innocence, the investigators decided to focus on her oldest son,
Giuseppe. That was all the threat Leonarda needed. She began talking. And she
kept talking into her 1946 trial. She discussed the crimes with ease.
While in custody, Leonarda wrote
her memoirs, titled An Embittered
Soul’s Confessions. It includes best practices for turning
human body parts into soap. Outside the jail and courtroom walls, people waited
for hours to get a seat to watch the proceedings and nearly stampeded once the
gates opened to the courthouse.
She was proud of the fact that she
was assisting her country during wartime. “I gave the copper ladle, which I
used to skim the fat off the kettles, to my country, which was so badly in need
of metal during the last days of the war,” she would tell the court.
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| Leonarda Cianciulli mugshot |
Still, it was difficult to believe
this woman could dissect a corpse so quickly and without assistance. So the
attorneys, judges, and police took Leonarda to the morgue. She demonstrated her
talent by dissecting a corpse into nine pieces under 12 minutes.
Giuseppe also went to trial but
was acquitted. Both Raffaele and Giuseppe Pansardi always claimed innocence of
Leonarda’s illegal activities. Giuseppe had mailed cards and letters for her
while he was on a trip in Pola, and he had tossed some wrapped bones into a
river. But, said Leonarda, he had no idea how these actions connected to her
crimes.
Leonarda Cianciulli was found
guilty of the three murders and given the sentence of thirty years in prison
and three years in a criminal asylum. Her family hugged her tight after the
sentencing. She died in prison in 1970. She is known as la Saponificatrice di Correggio, the
soap-maker of Correggio.
Resources
“A
Copper Ladle.” (June 24, 1946). Time
magazine. “Foreign News” Section.
Mastronardi,
V.M. & Sanvitale, F. (2010). “Leonarda Cianciulli, The Soap Maker.” Armando Editore: Italy.
Grey, O. (No date posted). “Leonarda Cianciulli: The Deadly Soap-Maker of
Correggio.” The Lineup. https://the-line-up.com/leonarda-cianciulli-soap-maker-of-correggio
Rowlatt,
J. (May 3, 2014). “Sodium: Getting Rid of Dirt – And Murder Victims.” BBC News
Online. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27257822
Unknown
Gender History Blog (September 22, 2011). Leonarda Cianciulli, Italian Serial Killer & Cannibal of 1941
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